As Jesus climbed up the mountain of transfiguration, He had the glorification of the Father on His heart. He had been accompanied by the three disciples (Peter, John and James), who had been with Him for a while (Matthew 17:1-13).
What took place during that time was meant for them. They needed to have a heavenly witness to them about who Jesus is. They had not been there when John baptized Him in the Jordan river. At that time the voice from the heavens declared Him, as the Son of God to those who were present.
Secondly, they had to see Jesus standing with both Moses and Elijah in conversation together; so that they could be able to connect His Ministry on the earth, with what the law and the Prophets had said about Him.
The three disciples saw the Son of Man in the fullness of the glory of the Most High God. What they encountered on that mountain reaffirmed their understanding about who He is, in their relationship with Him from that point forward.
They knew after that encounter on the mountain that they needed to be paying more careful attention to His words.
Freedom in the spirit brings us healing
Jesus on the earth had the fullness of the glory of God in Him. He was at liberty to act as God on the earth, even though He was also the Son of Man. He performed many miracles to affirm the majestic power of God with the anointing that was upon Him.
Peter later told the first gentile converts to Christianity about:
“How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, who went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him.”
Acts 10:38 NKJV
God had anointed Jesus of Nazareth – the Son of Man, with the Holy Spirit. The presence of the Father was with Him always on the earth. There was nothing that Jesus did on the earth that was without the approval of Heaven. He acted always freely and openly by faith in demonstrating the power of God’s Kingdom, in the presence of His Heavenly Father.
Anything that makes us free comes from the revelation of the truth of the word of the living God. Jesus is the manifestation of the Word of God on the earth in human flesh (John 1:14).
We can’t be made free by believing in Him with the carnal mind. That’s why carnal Christians are always struggling to be made free, because they are believing in Him with the carnal mind.
This was the very mistake Peter nearly made on the mountain of transfiguration, before the voice from Heaven cautioned him and corrected him.
Spiritual transformation is impossible in a carnal mind. That’s why an encounter with the Holy Ghost is the only Christian experience, that can bring real transformation to a carnal mind.
It’s the fullness of life from the Spirit of God that has made us free in Christ Jesus. Freedom comes by the Spirit of God. When we believe with the heart, we are made free from the carnal mind. It is the liberty that we have in the spirit, which brings healing to the physical body.
Healing flows through the heart that has freely and willingly received the word of healing. It flows through the heart up to the mind before affecting the physical body. It’s the word of healing that triggers the process of healing in the heart. The same word of healing permeates throughout the mind as it is being renewed, while bringing healing and good health to the physical body.
That’s why it’s important for every child of God to be putting His promises, in between the eyes and the mouth always. You take God’s promises with the eyes and the mouth, just as you’re used to taking your medications through the mouth daily.
How often are you looking into your Bible daily, so as to look and confess His promises to you? Your everyday habit with His promises, says a lot about your spiritual and physical well-being.
As the scriptures says:
“My son, give attention to my words; Incline your ear to my sayings. Do not let them depart from your eyes; Keep them in the midst of your heart; For they are life to those who find them, And health to all their flesh.”
Proverbs 4:20-22 NKJV
A Christian who is willingly doing these things daily is not only free indeed, but is also healed, healthy and well indeed. A spiritual transformation takes place in his life that affects his spirit, soul, body and the world around him.
Jesus as the Son of Man went through this very process on the earth, before He could be ready to start His ministry. The Bible says:
“That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying: “He Himself took our infirmities and bore our sicknesses.”
Matthew 8:17 NKJV
Jesus took our infirmities and sicknesses upon Himself. He was afflicted with every form of sicknesses and diseases on the earth. But He also had to depend on the promises of the Father with His heart, so as to be healed of them.
He had to go through this process, because He had to identify with us in our sufferings. But as He was healed, we had also been healed and made whole:
“Who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness—by whose stripes you were healed.”
I Peter 2:24 NKJV
We are now free from every form of sicknesses and diseases of this world, because of all that Jesus did for us. The provision for our healing and good health had been made available for us. All we have to do is to receive it and start using it to stay healed and free every day.
If indeed you are living in the freedom that Christ had made available for you, you can stay free also from the sicknesses and diseases of this world.
God is not putting sicknesses and diseases on people. He is healing them of it all, because of the perfect sacrifice of His Son for all humanity.
But to stay free from the sicknesses and diseases of this world; He had advised us:
“And said, “If you diligently heed the voice of the Lord your God and do what is right in His sight, give ear to His commandments and keep all His statutes, I will put none of the diseases on you which I have brought on the Egyptians. For I am the Lord who heals you.”
Exodus 15:26 NKJV
Staying free in the liberty that Christ has given us, requires that we are living and walking in obedience to His Word. The reason why certain Christians are falling sick these days, is because of their disobedience and total disregard or ignorance to His written Word.
But when we are continuing in the freedom that we do have in Christ Jesus, we will not only be free from the sicknesses and diseases of the world; but our physical bodies are being prepared also to be transformed into glory with Him.
A spiritual transformation had to take place first in Jesus’ life on the earth, because He was indeed the Son of Man:
“This is why he had to be a man and take hold of our humanity in every way. He made us his brothers and sisters and became our merciful and faithful King-Priest before God; as the One who removed our sins to make us one with him.”
Hebrews 2:17 TPT
Jesus had to go through the same process of spiritual transformation that, we as Christians are going through daily. He had to do this so as to become the first-born Child of God before many others. He had to go through it, so as to make us brothers and sisters with Him before the Father.
Glorified body on the earth
The Son of Man had God’s glory in Him on the earth
What took place on the mountain of transfiguration was the culmination of the process of transformation, that was going on within Jesus as He was preparing for Calvary. A totally and completely healed Man on the earth was ready to be transfigured into the glory of His Heavenly Father.
This is something that the devil hates to see us becoming with the freedom that we have in Christ Jesus. That’s why he is attacking Christians with sicknesses and diseases. It’s his strategy to prevent the believers in Christ Jesus from being free indeed. But whether he likes it or not, we will be changed into glory to be with Jesus.
As long as you are still living in your physical body without sin, sickness or disease; you are qualified to be transformed into His glory. Your sanctified body becomes the dwelling of the glory of God.
Enoch was a man on the earth who lived like that. He had to separate himself from the filthiness of his world. He gave his spirit, soul and body to live for God alone. There was nothing in the world that had any meaning in his life.
Many rabbinical scholars have suggested that he actually went to live very close to the garden of Eden, from where he was able to see the glory that Adam and Eve lost from afar. He saw that glory from afar, but he was unable to enter into it.
Enoch had desired to live in that glory; but the angels would not allow him access into the garden. He had stayed in the vicinity of the area, so as to remain closer to the presence of God.
It’s important to note that the garden of Eden was the nearest location to the presence of God, in the corrupt and evil world that Enoch was living in. He refused to leave the area, because he never wanted to have anything to do with the corrupt world which he had left behind.
However, because he was free from sin, sickness and disease in his body; while living a concentrated life before God, the only option left for the hosts of heaven was to take him away from the earth.
Enoch left the earth without sin, sickness and disease in his body. He was a free man, because he was walking with God in obedience to His Word. As the Bible says:
“By faith [that pleased God] Enoch was caught up and taken to heaven so that he would not have a glimpse of death; and he was not found because God had taken him; for even before he was taken [to heaven], he received the testimony [still on record] that he had walked with God and pleased Him. But without faith it is impossible to [walk with God and] please Him, for whoever comes [near] to God must [necessarily] believe that God exists and that He rewards those who [earnestly and diligently] seek Him.”
Hebrews 11:5-6 AMP
Enoch was taken away from the earth without experiencing death in the physical body, because his lifestyle of faith and obedience to God’s word pleased God. He had lived a life that was free of the influence of the world by his faith in the Almighty God; and was taken away in the freedom that he had, so as to remain in fellowship with God eternally.
He was taken into the heavens, and was transformed into a heavenly body, which is much more glorious and beautiful than what we have on the earth.
Jesus had to be transfigured in the presence of His brothers (Peter, John and James) before going to Calvary. The life of the Son of Man who was free from sin, sickness and disease was ready to be transfigured before his fellow brothers on the earth.
Jesus had to be transfigured in preparation for His death on the cross at Calvary. The very same transfigured body was later crucified on the cross, only to be raised again in glory by our Father in Heaven after three days. The transfigured body of the Son of Man had to first die, for God to be glorified in it. And when God was glorified in it, He became the Son of God.
There has to be a crucifixion of the works of the flesh in you, so that you can be glorified with Him. That’s why Paul said:
“I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.”
Galatians 2:20 NKJV
A crucified body that’s free from sin, sickness and disease will be glorified. Paul experienced this by living by faith in the freedom that Christ had given him. And that’s possible for anyone who is seeking the very best of God on the earth.
There had to be persons on the earth who could testify in glory, that they saw Jesus being transfigured. The three disciples of Jesus became those witnesses. The enemy could not deny anymore that Jesus was really who He had declared Himself to be, because there were men on the earth, who could testify that they saw Him being transfigured.
The Father in Heaven who had sent Him, begun the process of transformation in Him. Jesus had to be obedient to the will of His Father.
The scriptures say about His transfiguration:
“Now after six days Jesus took Peter, James, and John his brother, led them up on a high mountain by themselves; and He was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and His clothes became as white as the light. And behold, Moses and Elijah appeared to them, talking with Him.”
Matthew 17:1-3 NKJV
God’s Son was transfigured (completely transformed) on the high mountain. The fullness of the glory of the Father was upon Him on the earth at that moment, and the three disciples saw it.
We will all one day have to appear before the Father in Heaven in His glory. But we will not all be transfigured. We will all however inherit a new body, when we appear before the Father in Heaven.
As the Apostle Paul said:
“Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed— in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. So, when this corruptible has put on incorruption, and this mortal has put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written: “Death is swallowed up in victory.”
I Corinthians 15:51-54 NKJV
We shall all be transformed into a new body in glory. In this new body we will still be able to recognize one another. Yes, we will be metamorphosed into a new person in glory.
What a beautiful picture of what it will be like, when we shall all stand before the Father in Heaven, in the new body in glory.
In bringing us to glory with Him the scripture says:
“God, for whom and through whom everything was made, chose to bring many children into glory. And it was only right that he should make Jesus, through his suffering, a perfect leader, fit to bring them into their salvation. So now Jesus and the ones he makes holy have the same Father. That is why Jesus is not ashamed to call them his brothers and sisters.”
Hebrews 2:10-11 NLT
We will be called brothers and sisters with Christ Jesus in glory. It’s interesting to see how a sinner who has been inwardly transformed can become a saint, by the cleansing of the blood of Jesus Christ. This is the miracle of salvation. It is also an inward change that eventually affects everything in the new life with Christ Jesus.
A change takes place in the sinner, when a decision is made to put the sinful past behind him, so as go after a better future in glory with Christ Jesus.
This is the greatest miracle on earth – the transformation of the lost soul into a new person in Christ Jesus. The scripture says:
“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.”
II Corinthians 5:17 NKJV
If old things have passed away for anyone, then a genuine transformation has taken place in such a life.
What took place on the mountain of transfiguration was meant for the disciples, and for us also as His followers on the earth.
While Peter was still trying to put the event in a religious perspective, the voice from Heaven put aside his assumed theological position.
The scriptures say:
“While he was still speaking, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them; and suddenly a voice came out of the cloud, saying, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Hear Him!” And when the disciples heard it, they fell on their faces and were greatly afraid.”
Matthew 17:5-6 NKJV
In other words, the voice was affirming to the disciples that, everything that Jesus says changes every theological opinion of men, which had ever been before. The old things passed away immediately for the three of them, and everything became new.
Jesus is now the Master and Teacher to those who believes in Him. Every doctrine of men and their theological opinions are overruled by whatever Jesus says. Jesus will always have the final say about all things.
From that moment onward the theological knowledge of the three disciples became irrelevant. Jesus was the only One they had to start listening to.
The disciples were only able to see the outward changes on Jesus, as He talked with Moses and Elijah (the representatives of both the law and the prophet in Israel).
But the voice from Heaven revealed to them the Person who they had been dealing with, as the Son of God. Their immediate reaction was to fall on their faces, and to worship Him for who He is.
Jesus knew the purpose of His ascension to the mountain with the three disciples. He wanted to also teach them how to be patient in waiting, for His words to fight the battle in the lives of the new converts that were following Him. Many of them were still confused about who He really was at the time.
The process of transformation of a sinner into a saint may often take time. But it’s only those who goes through it with patience that are really transformed.
The Christian race is not for those who cannot wait and tarry before our Father in Heaven. God is not in a hurry to do anything for anyone. He has our times in His hand. Real transformation comes to those who through patience are inheriting His promises.
The three disciples shared in the glory that; they had seen in Christ Jesus on the mountain. They became partakers of it with Him.
Those who are partakers of God’s glory must be willing to be separated from the crowd in a secluded place, where they can share intimacy with God the Father, in the secret place of His dwelling (Psalms 91:1).
Jesus shared of His glory with both Moses and Elijah during His transfiguration. They were able to get a glimpse into what they never knew about His crucifixion on the cross, His resurrection and His ascension. They shared and fellowshipped with Him about what the Father had told them about those things, which they had seen through His ministry on the earth.
Whereas Moses and Elijah were focused on the glorification of Jesus on the earth, as they had seen it from the Heavens. David had however described that very glory of the light in the Father, when he said:
“You wrap yourself with a shimmering, glistening light. You wear sunshine like a garment of glory. You stretch out the starry skies like a tapestry.”
Psalms 104:2 TPT
There was no way David could had made this statement about the Father in Heaven, if he had not caught a glimpse into that glory. He must surely had seen Jesus (his Seed) in the Father, as he saw the Father being wrapped “with a shimmering, glistening light”.
While Jesus was glittering before the three disciples on the mountain; we can’t ignore this description of the manifestation of the glory of the Father in Heaven by David.
As the scripture says in another place about the glory of the Father in Christ Jesus (His Son):
“Who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high,”
Hebrews 1:3 NKJV
Jesus is in the brightness of the Father’s glory on the earth. The manifestation of the glory in Him, made Him the exact or express image of God the Father on the earth.
The very glory that is in the Father was manifested in His Son on the earth, during the transfiguration of Jesus. God, the Father shared of His glory in Heaven with a Man on the earth, for the very first time. He finally found His dwelling in a Man on the earth.
This opened the door for all those who were to later believe in Him, to become partakers of the same glory.
The transfiguration of Jesus in the presence of the three disciples was something no man had ever seen before. It was real. God’s fullest glory was manifested in human flesh.
The Apostle Paul said about Jesus based on his personal experience on the road to Damascus, when he saw the glory of that light:
“Who (Jesus) alone has immortality, dwelling in unapproachable light, whom no man has seen or can see, to whom be honor and everlasting power. Amen.”
I Timothy 6:16 NKJV
The glory that Paul saw on the road to Damascus was like an “unapproachable light”. It was too bright for him to be able to do anything about it. He could talk to the light from afar but couldn’t move near it.
It was something that no man had never seen. It was too wonderful for Paul to describe it. His only reaction to the brightness of the light was for him to address it in this way: “who are you Lord”.
If they were glorified, you’ll be also
Moses had seen that glory before with the elders of Israel on mount Sinai, while they were eating and drinking as they fellowshipped with the Father.
The scriptures said as he went up to Mount Sinai to fellowship with the Lord God, together with the elders of Israel:
“Then Moses went up, also Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel, and they saw the God of Israel. And there was under His feet as it were a paved work of sapphire stone, and it was like the very heavens in its clarity. But on the nobles of the children of Israel He did not lay His hand. So, they saw God, and they ate and drank. Then the Lord said to Moses, “Come up to Me on the mountain and be there; and I will give you tablets of stone, and the law and commandments which I have written, that you may teach them.”
Exodus 24:9-12 NKJV
This was not a social gathering with God on the mountain, as many often do in churches these days. It was not what some people in our world today will describe as church fellowship. It was much more than that.
The elders of Israel were eating and drinking before God, to establish the Covenant that they were about to enter into with Him. This was the meal that they were eating in His presence, so as to solidify their Covenant with Him.
In other words what they were doing before God here is meant for us to know, not to put our hands to be eating from the same plate with anyone, if we’re not intending to enter into a Covenant relationship with the person. This was the standard practice when people enter into covenant relationships. The covenant meal solidifies their covenant relationship.
The world has changed the understanding of covenant relationships today. That’s why many Christians are confused, not because of God’s word concerning this; but because the devil has polluted the understanding about it. And this ungodly revelation has crept from the world into Churches in destroying many homes and marriages today.
What the elders of Israel were doing here before the Father gives us a glimpse into what, our wedding banquet with Jesus is going to look like in Heaven. We shall be able to fellowship face to face with the Father. We will be able to eat and drink in His presence, as we will be fellowshipping with one another also.
And because of the freedom that we have in Christ Jesus, we should be expecting to see interesting things at the table in Heaven. It’s just like when members of the same family gather together to eat at the same table. There obviously will be surprises at that banquet table in Heaven!
But our ability to fellowship with one another on the earth, is a preparation for the fellowship that we shall be having in Heaven together.
Moses not only ate and drank in that glory before the Father, but he also actually dwelt in it for forty days and nights:
“Now the glory of the Lord rested on Mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it six days. And on the seventh day He called to Moses out of the midst of the cloud. The sight of the glory of the Lord was like a consuming fire on the top of the mountain in the eyes of the children of Israel. So, Moses went into the midst of the cloud and went up into the mountain. And Moses was on the mountain forty days and forty nights.”
Exodus 24:16-18 NKJV
Forty days and forty nights in the glory of God. The encounter with the Father on the mountain transformed Moses so powerfully, that no one dared to look at him straight in the face, as he returned back to the people after spending time with the Him.
Elijah partook of the glory on the earth also. The scriptures say about his encounter with the Lord God on the mountain of God at Horeb:
“Then He said, “Go out, and stand on the mountain before the Lord.” And behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind tore into the mountains and broke the rocks in pieces before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind; and after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake; and after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire; and after the fire a still small voice. So it was, when Elijah heard it, that he wrapped his face in his mantle and went out and stood in the entrance of the cave. Suddenly a voice came to him, and said, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”
I Kings 19:11-13 NKJV
For Elijah the manifestation of the glory was in a voice that was so audible for him to hear God speak. It was not in a bright light. Elijah saw the side of God which no man had never seen before.
This is important for us to know that God can manifest Himself to us in several ways. We don’t pick or choose how we want Him to manifest. But whenever He does, we will always know that He is the One, who is with us in that encounter.
The glory was a bright light in Jesus, which later shown to Paul as an unapproachable light.
For Moses the glory was initially in the burning bush (Exodus 3); then he saw God’s glory in the clouds and in the darkness also (Exodus 20:21).
No matter how God chooses to manifest Himself to you, it is important to have a heart that is longing for Him. As long as you are longing for Him, you will find Him.
Don’t let anything or anyone take your attention away from daily seeking after the presence of God. There are many things that are going on around you every day, that can take you away from His presence:
“And do not give the devil a foothold.”
Ephesians 4:27 NIV
If you are hungry for Him, He will feed you with His word. If you are thirsty for Him, He will give you of His Spirit to drink from in quenching your thirst. How hungry and thirsty are you for the Lord?